Xander's Truth
by The 11th Artist
Summary: What really happened to Xander when his car broke down in Oxnard during his post-high school road trip.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

OK, a little back story might be in order. One of my best friends is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In case you don't know, here's the spiel that Watchers (stuffy British dudes who are supposed to find Slayers and train them) love to give at the drop of a hat:

"Into each generation a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers."

So, like I said, Buffy is the Slayer but, as these things tend to do, it got complicated. After seven years of battling various nasties (pretty much any monster you've ever drempt of actually does exist), we finally came up against The First Evil. It had started a campaign to wipe out all potential Slayers. Yeah, I know, you're wondering what all this Slayer, potential Slayer crap is.

Well, magicky mojo guys who created the Slayer had the bright idea that there'd only be one at a time. One girl in all the world to fight all the evilness. Not exactly a fair fight, right? That's one reason why Slayers had an average life expectancy of only a couple years after they were activated. At any given time, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of potentials throughout the world so, when one died, the next could be activated and the cycle continued. Buffy was pretty much the first one to buck the system. She's the oldest living Slayer and we figured it's because she wasn't discovered by the Watchers until she was sixteen. Usually, the Watchers knew about potentials when they were still young, took them in and trained them so they'd be ready when they were activated. Problem was, they only thought of the Slayers as tools, weapons to be used as they saw fit, and had a set of rules and standards that they instilled in the potentials that limited their ability to adapt to the unexpected. They were trained to be unemotional and detached, to react certain ways to certain situations, but when something new came at them that the training didn't cover, they couldn't think outside the box, couldn't think with their hearts, and it got them killed.

Now Buffy, she had her own style and was plenty imaginative, using techniques the Watchers never would've thought of, much less approved. She had friends (me, Willow and, eventually, Giles) and family (her mother, Joyce, and her little sister, Dawn) she loved and who loved her, something the other Slayers lacked; when you're disconnected from everything and everyone, you lose sight of what you're fighting for, you're missing the passion, and maybe even the desire to stay alive. Even after Giles became her Watcher, she refused to tow the line and continued to do things her own way. After much frustration, Giles came around and saw things from Buffy's perspective, even siding with her against the Watcher's Council, which led to his expulsion. That didn't sit well with the Buffster and she confronted the Council, having come to the realization that _she _was the one with the power. _They _needed _her_, not the other around. She put them in their place and got Giles reinstated.

So, the demon fighting continued, even our personal ones, which seemed more and more nasty as we got older, and then The First attacked. It called itself The First Evil, capital letters and all, and considering what it was capable of, we believed it. Like I said before, it tried to wipe out the potentials, and got a bunch of them before we found out and stepped in. Giles began collecting the girls that were still alive and brought them to Sunnydale so that we could protect them and try to train them, ourselves, with the help of Faith, the only other living Slayer – Buffy died once… actually twice, but the first time resulted in Kendra's activation, then Kendra was killed and Faith was activated - who'd returned after The First's minions tried to kill her, too. So, there we were with a couple dozen teenage girls living at Buffy's house and my apartment, trying our best to keep them alive until we could figure out a way to defeat The First. It still managed to get a couple of them.

Finally, Buffy'd had enough. She gathered everyone, including Spike… OK, quick backstory: Spike's a vampire who managed to survive the numerous attempts to kill Buffy, mostly through sheer dumb luck, and I think party because Buffy felt some sort of lost-puppy-dog pity for him. Anyway, Spike, being the masochist that he is, fell in love with Buffy after the dozens of pummelings she gave him. Don't ask me. So, in order to prove his love, Spike went and got his soul back, making him the _second_ vampire with a soul – and no, I won't talk about the first one. Now Spike was on our side, and so was Robin Wood, new principle of Sunnydale High, who, it turned out, asked to be asigned there in order to find and kill Spike, who had killed Wood's mother, a Slayer, back in the 70s. Did I mention things were complicated? Buffy made Robin drop the revenge kick, saying that she needed Spike in the upcoming fight.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Buffy gathered everyone and we took the fight to The First and it's army of ubervamps. Insert epic battle here. At first, things weren't going that well for us. We were losing people, but then Buffy's plan worked to perfection.

Oh, did I mention my _very _best friend, Willow, who I've known all my life, had become one of the most powerful witches in the world? Big plus for our side, 'cause she was able to work her witchy magic and turn all potential Slayers into actual Slayers. Buffy's plan. And it sure turned the tide in our favor as all the girls suddenly got juiced with Slayer mojo.

We won, of course, but at a cost. Sunnydale, my hometown, got turned into a crater due to some magic medallion thing that Spike sacrificed himself to use in order to deal the killing blow for our side. My ex-fiance, Anya, died during the battle and we lost a lot of the new Slayers.

That's our story, which leads us here, to a Motel 6, in Santa Barbara, and to _my _story, which begins with a phone call.


	2. Chapter 2

This story takes place a few days after the end of season 7, but refers to an event that happened between seasons 3 and 4. What _really _happened to Xander when his car broke down in Oxnard...

**Xander's Truth: I**

The funny thing was that I was expecting the call. Granted, not at five o'clock in the morning at a _Motel 6_ in Santa Barbara. Not that I was getting a ton of sleep, between Giles' snoring and Andrew's talking in his sleep (something about Lance Bass… I _so _didn't want to know). Robin was a relatively quiet sleeper.

We'd set up temporary residence at the motel after Sunnydale was turned into a crater as a result of our apocalyptic battle with The First Evil - and before you ask, yes, it's as bad as it sounds. The core Scooby Gang with the addition of Faith, Andrew, Robin Wood and eighteen spankin' new Slayers, were all spread between three rooms, since our budget was a little tight while Giles worked on freeing up the Watcher's Council assets (Willow had had to work some witchy mojo on the desk clerk so we didn't have to try explain all the newly empowered Slayers we had with us). So, when the phone rang, I, being the only one awake, answered. Just as well, since it was for me.

"Hello?"

I was beginning to wonder how the woman on the other end of the line knew my name, much less how to reach me here, when she said the one thing that made my blood run cold. My hand tightened into a white-knuckled grip on the receiver as three-year old memories came flooding back to me. Good God, how could I have forgotten?

"Yes," I whispered. "No, I… I know. How long? Can you make that three hours? Right, of course I can. Yeah, I'll see you in three hours, then."

I hung up the phone and tried to remember how to breath again, then realized I _was_ breathing. It just _felt_ like I was suffocating. I glanced at the clock. Almost fifteen minutes had passed while I tried to get my little panic attack under control. That left only two hours and forty-five minutes! I sprang into action, fumbling for my eyepatch while yelling to wake up Giles, Andrew and Robin, then dialed the room Buffy, Willow and Dawn were sharing with seven of the newbies. Buffy answered and, after a slightly uncharacteristic expletive, recognized the emotions in my voice. She said they would be right over. I hesitated a moment but decided it was best if she were in on the explanation instead of being told second-hand. I was braced for the curses that flew out of the phone when Faith finally picked up. She shared a room with the other nine new Slayers – needless to say, I steered clear of that room as much as possible. Once I was able to get a word in, I stressed the importance of her being involved in an emergency conference that had to be held right away. That seemed to mollify her but she hung up without saying whether she would actually show up.

She eventually did come over, a good ten minutes after Buffy, Willow and Dawn.

I paced the small space in front of the two beds where everyone was sitting, trying to figure out how to begin. _Just do it, _I commanded myself. I stopped and sighed. This was seriously going to change things between Buffy, Willow and me (I had no idea how Giles and Dawn would take it). And not just because I'd kept this huge thing from them for three years.

_Continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Xander's Truth: II**

"This _can't _leave this room." After everyone nodded in agreement, I took a deep breath and started the story that I hadn't told a single person in three years. "It happened that summer after high school when I went on my road trip. Yes, my car did break down, and I did go to work, waiting tables, at '_The_ _Fabulous Ladies Night Club_'. And everything was going fine, I was making decent tips but still not enough to fix my car or get another one. Then, one of the dancers…called in sick. Pacey, one of the bouncers(she reminded me of the wrestler Chyna, all bulging muscle and manish features), came up to me while I was getting things ready for that night's crowd and said Helene, the club manager, wanted to see me. I figured I was about to be let go.

"I wish.

"Pacey took me to Helene's office and waited outside…

Helene had been on the phone and gave me a quick smile to acknowledge my presence before turning her attention back to the call. I stood in front of her desk, kinda shuffling my feet and looking around. It was the first time I'd been in there; even when I'd applied for the job it had been Lucy, the assistant manager who interviewed me at one of the tables on the main floor of the club. I'd met Helene my first night working, and knew she had an office in the back, but it seemed few people actually got to see the inside of it. I wasn't sure if I should feel privileged. It was modern, sort of art-deco, mostly dark colors – black, grey, crimson – the wall to the left and right of her desk were floor to ceiling mirrors and gave that disorienting sense of infinite reflections.

I couldn't explain why at the time, but the more I looked at the reflections, the more they were starting to freak me out. A couple of nights later, I found out why.

Helene finished on the phone, hung up and looked up at me, the smile more genuine and longer lasting this time.

"Ah, Alexander, please sit down."

Helene refused to call me Xander, said it's a boy's name and the man she saw in my eyes was too old for such a name. Hey, she was handing out the paychecks, I wasn't about to argue. Besides, I was pretty sure it was a complement.

I sat. She stared at me a moment, just long enough to start making me uncomfortable, before getting to why I was in her office.

"I'll get straight to the point; Jacob isn't able to make it in, and that puts us one dancer short. I need you to take his place."

It was my turn to stare. Then I started laughing. She didn't join in, so I stopped.

"You're serious?"

"I don't joke around when it comes to business. You've got the looks and body for it, if not the skills. Rory and Michael will give you some pointers."

"But…_me_?! With the dancing and the nakedness and the ogling women? No, i-it's…"

"It's at least twice what you're making now."

"Let's get stripping!"

She was smiling again. "Great, Rory and Michael are waiting in the dressing rooms. Knock 'em dead, as they say."

I was obviously dismissed, so I got up and went to the door, then a thought occurred to me and I turned back.

"I get a new speedo, right? I don't have to use someone else's, do I?"

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So, for the next couple of nights I went up on stage, did as little as I could get away with, and everything seemed to be going fine, then on the third night after the show…

"Alexander, I want you to meet someone." Helene grabbed me as I was coming out of the changing room, and dragged me over to a tall, attractive blond girl. "This is Paris. She's a regular, but has been out of the country the past two weeks. She tells me she was pleasantly surprised to find a new dancer in the show, and enjoyed your…performance. She'd like you to accompany her out on the town."

OK, awkward much? "Um, hi. Pleased to me you."

"Hi. You ready to go have fun?" So much for formalities.

The look and smile she gave me were almost predatory. I'd seen it enough on the Hellmouth to know it.

"Go, show her a good time," Helene said, her tone not making it a request.

So, out we went, had a good time (mostly for her), and eventually made it back to her place. We…well, you know. Anyway, we finished about the time the sun's coming up, and in no uncertain terms she lets me know its time for me to leave. I'm dressed and ready to go when she hands me an envelope for Helene. I didn't think much of it at the time, my mind focused on getting to the hotel to sleep.

That night was the fourth time for me on stage and I was beginning to wonder where Jacob was. I went into the fitting room to change and found Rory sitting off in one corner, shaking. Scared.

_Continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

_That night was the fourth time for me on stage and I was beginning to wonder where Jacob was. I went into the fitting room to change and found Rory sitting off in one corner, shaking. Scared._

**Xander's Truth: III**

After about twenty minutes of assuring him that I wouldn't tell anyone what had happened, I finally got Rory to tell me. I felt sick. And pissed.

I marched out of the dressing room and down the hall towards Helene's office, Rory's story replaying in my mind:

"She's _out _there, man!" he'd finally said.

"Who's out where?"

"Anna. Helene said her name was Anna. She's out there at one of the front tables."

"OK, so what's up with this Anna chick? You get her pregnant, or somethin'?"

I'd meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, but Rory looked at me with terror in his eyes, as if the possibility hadn't occurred to him till now and the implications of that happening were horrifying.

"Whoa, chill out, I was kidding!"

"You don't understand! I was with her last night! I-it was so horrible, man!"

"OK, so she's a he, is that it?"

"Hell no! _That_, I can handle! She…she ain't human! When I was with her and we were…you know, getting' it on…she just sorta wraps her legs around me, and I start feelin' like the life's being drained outta me. It was like this cold darkness closing in…by the time she finished, I thought I'd never see light again, never be happy again. It took me an hour to get up the strength to get my clothes on and get outta there."

I sat down heavily, closed my eyes and rubbed my face. Damn. Damn! Damn! Damn! So, Anna was some kind of demon. I started trying to figure out ways to kill her, but realized that I wasn't in Sunnydale anymore, and the cops weren't likely to look the other way, like back home, so a dead body, especially a non-human one, would attract too much of the wrong kind of attention.

I came to a conclusion.

"We'll just have Pacey toss her out,", I said, lifting my head and looking at Rory again. "Tell her that Anna's some kind of psycho stalker."

Rory let out a harsh bark of laughter.

"You don't get it, do you? She's a _paying customer! _Stuffed the damn envelope of money for Helene into my pocket before I left!"

My mind flashed back to the night before when Paris had given me an envelope for Helene. Huh. I got a mental image of Jon Voight as Joe Buck but shook it off and focused on the current situation. Helene was pimping out the dancers to club customers, human and non. At least, I think Paris was human. Damn!

I stood up, having gone from worried, to concerned, to angry, to freaked, and back to angry. "Hang on, I'll be back."

By then, other dancers had started filing into the room, so I wasn't worried about leaving him alone.

And so, there I was, standing in front of the manager's office. I took a deep breath and walked in without knocking.

Helene looked up from a stack of paperwork, surprised.

"Alexander? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Gee, I don't know. Where should I start? Oh yeah! How about with you feeding the guys to the monsters!"

"_What_!? Someone got eaten?"

She seemed genuinely concerned, which threw me.

"Well, no…I was speaking metaphorically. But that's not to say that one of them won't get eaten, though! You're pimping them…_us_ out to customers, and you don't seem to care if the Janes are human or not!"

_Continued… _


	5. Chapter 5

_You're pimping them…us out to customers, and you don't seem to care if the Janes are human or not!"_

**Xander's Truth: IV**

She leaned back in her chair, eyes closed, and sighed.

"It's not my doing. Vosch, the… owner, ordered it."

"So, that's it? The owner tells you to pimp the dancers out to monsters and you just do it?"

"You don't understand; things could get a lot worse if I don't. Vosch is very powerful and he doesn't take no for an answer. Look, I'm sorry you got involved, but maybe its best if I let you g-"

While she was talking, something caught my attention out of the corner of my right eye and I'd turned to look. I found myself staring at the mirror that covered the wall, and the office door was wide open and there was a rather large, nasty looking demon standing right behind me. My eyes widening just before I spun around to protect myself was what had stopped Helene mid-sentence as she followed my gaze to the mirror. Why was she looking in the mirror, damnit! The thing was right behind me, in front of her desk!

But there was nothing there when I spun around.

Confused, my muscles tense with anticipation of a fight, I looked back at the mirror. The thing was still there! I could see it clearly, standing not two feet in front of my own reflection: It was all muscle and wore primitive clothes, some sort of war paint adorned it's ugly face, tusks curved out of its mouth, and a hideous red-skinned demon about the size of a rat rode on its shoulder. What the Hell was going on?!

"Helene, what-?"

"Get out!" she yelled. "Get out now, before it gets here!"

I turned to face her, even though I hated taking my attention off the demon in the mirror who's reflection seemed to be coming from nowhere. Helene was now standing, holding a very large, curved bladed knife.

"What's going on?!" I demanded.

But just then I felt a shift in the air around us, a large displacement, and Helene was looking over my shoulder. "Duck!"

Don't say I never learned anything patrolling on the Hellmouth with the Slayer, 'cause I dropped like a sack of rocks as something that I was pretty sure was a very large arm whizzed through the space my head had just occupied. I rolled onto my back, trying to get clear of the demon from the mirror who really was behind me now, and saw Helene fly over the desk and attack it.

I scrambled to my feet, looking for a weapon. The phone started ringing. I snatched it off the desk, yanked the cord out and came up behind the demon while it was distracted by Helene. I swing my arm down, aiming for the monsters neck and yelling, "It's for you!"

It would've been a funny one-liner, but the next thing I know I'm flying across the desk and landing in a decidedly ungraceful heap on the other side. The damn thing had swung blind and hit me, without so much as glancing sideways.

Getting back up, I barely had time to think about how Helene seems to be holding her own against a demon that's twice her size, when I find the little red rat-demon staring at me from its perch on Big & Ugly's shoulder. A thought occurred to me, so I waited, pretending to be more injured than I was. After a few seconds Little Red turned back to looking forward, maybe deciding I wasn't worth the attention anymore.

I quickly searched for another weapon, spotting the letter opener from Helene's desk. Scooping it up, I charged toward the big demon's back again as quickly and quietly as possible - no one-liners this time – and plunged the small blade into the base of its skull, then fell back as it went wild, roaring in pain (at least, I'd hoped it was pain). Little Red was fussing up a storm, jumping up and down on his ride's shoulder.

Big & Ugly reached back to try and pull the letter opener out, but then there was an unmistakable sound of steel tearing into flesh and the demon fell lifelessly to the floor. I saw the handle of Helene's knife sticking out of its chest.

"Alright, _that_ was a little too close to home," I commented. Seemed like I couldn't escape the damn monsters.

I looked up at Helene, a hundred questions forming in my brain…and all of them went bye-bye when I saw her.

She'd transformed; her eyes were now completely filled with the dark-blue I'd mentioned earlier, an intricate pattern of black tattoo-like designs had appeared on her face, and her ears had extended into points. Part of my brain was yelling at me to find another weapon, but I couldn't move. She was breathtaking, other-worldly, exotic…I don't know, maybe I do have some weird attraction to demon chicks.

Anyway, my fixation was suddenly pushed to the wayside when movement caught both our attention. Little Red was still alive and looking really pissed as he crawled out from under his ride. He scrambled away, jumping onto the desk, then onto a small file cabinet behind it.

"Get him!" Helene yelled, racing after it. "Before he gets back through!"

Confused, but feeling that it was important to catch the little guy, I went around the other side of the desk, opposite of Helene, thinking we could box it in, especially since it just seemed to be sitting there, staring at its reflection in the mirror. But just as we reached it, it vanished.

"DAMN IT!" Helene punched the front of the file cabinet, leaving a rather large dent in it.

"OK, what the _Hell_ is going on?!" I demanded, my need for answers overriding any caution I might have had about yelling at an obviously strong she-demon.

She looked at me, and even with the monster make-over, I could see anger and fear fighting each other for dominance of her features. Slowly, fear won out, along with a large dose of weariness. She seemed to be doing some major contemplating, then came to a conclusion. She grabbed a satchel out of a drawer, slinging it over her shoulder, then fished in another drawer, finally pulling out a black scarf which she put over her head, tying it under her chin and pulling it low to just over eyes. She turned to me.

"I'll explain on the way."

"Way? Way where?"

"Peridia, my home dimension."

_Continued…_


	6. Chapter 6

"_I'll explain on the way." _

"_Way? Way where?"_

"_Peridia, my home dimension."_

**Xander's Truth: V**

"Whoa, apply the brakes and check the front and side mirrors! I'm not going to some other dimension!"

"I don't have time to argue with you, Alexander! Whether you like it or not, you are involved now, and if we do not catch that Dua, we are both as good as dead!"

I cursed under my breath. Way to go Xander, you managed to get yourself into another heap of demonic trouble.

"OK, fine, but you better tell me _everything_!"

"Agreed."

"Alright, how do we get there."

"Like Alice; through the looking glass."

"Huh?"

"The mirror," she said, pointing behind me. "It is a gateway between this dimension and my own. You just look at it and concentrate on being there; being in Peridia."

Well, that explained a lot. Like why the reflection of the office in the mirror was just as neat and tidy as the real one had been when I'd come in, and the reflection door was open, but the one here was still closed. I was starting to get a headache.

"Concentrate. We must hurry."

"Fine; concentrating."

I stared at my reflection and imagined myself in that other world. I felt a sudden but slight wrenching in my gut and my reflection vanished, and I suddenly found myself in bare stone chamber about half the size of Helene's office. Instead of a mirror, I was now staring at some sort of shimmering oval disc that stretched from floor to ceiling

"We're here," Helene said. "Come on, let's go!"

With way more than a few knots in my stomach, I followed Helene through the door and into George Burns only knew what kind of world.

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Coming out of the stone chamber, we passed through a curtain and emerged into an enormous, round promenade about the size of the Main Concourse at Grand Central Station and filled with milling people. Most of them looked like Helen, with the pointy ears and face markings, but there were several other types of demons and even a few who looked human.

Doing my best to take in everything as we ran, I studied to the promenade: it was probably eighty thousand square feet in diameter (like I said, Grand Central Station) and made of stone, all kinds of intricate carvings and tapestries covered the walls. There were similar curtained archways at ten-foot intervals all around the chamber, several large archways that lead off into other parts of the building and, in the center of the promenade, was some sort of massive statue; a sphere floating on a pillar of mist. The sphere kept changing, showing different worlds in vivid detail and color.

I could've wandered around the place for hours, just appreciating the masonry, and another few hours watching the sphere change. But Helene was dragging me through the crowd of people, chasing after the Dua.

Turning my attention back to the task at hand, I concentrated on keeping up with her. Once we were through the crowd and were leaving the promenade, I regained my wits enough to start pondering the sitch again, and decided to get some answers.

"OK, I followed you here, now te- Holy crap!" We had just left the building, and I got my fist view of Helene's world.

It'd take too long to describe in the sequence that I saw it in, so I'll just describe it overall: It was a kingdom, complete with sprawling palace at its center, but this kingdom was perched on top of dozens of enormous rock columns, each big enough to make a giant redwood look like a toothpick, spread out in a circular pattern from the center, largest and tallest column. That center one held the palace, which is at least the size of Sunnydale, by itself. The rest of the kingdom - homes and businesses and schools – sat on a series of slightly smaller and shorter columns..

All of the buildings were stone, having been carved right out of the rock columns, the area around them flattened or carved to provide walkways, terraces and stairs leading in every direction. I could never even imagine the work and craftsmanship needed to do that. I mean, the logistics of it!

Looking down, a layer of mist - I preferred not to think of it as clouds, 'cause I really didn't want to imagine being that high up - swirled around the columns about forty feet below the surface of the shortest ones, hiding whatever was down there.

Every building, walkway, railing and staircase had an undeniable look of strength to it, but had been carved with such artfulness that it seemed like the greatest work of art ever made. Roofs and walls flowed and swirled together and apart, sharp and smooth lines forming something that seemed torn between chaos and ultimate purpose.

And all of it, this city in the sky, sat in the middle of a canyon, the sides of which could just barely be seen in the distance.

"Come one, damn you! Sightsee later!" Helene grabbed my hand and yanked me forward.

Once again I had to force myself to focus on the chase, but it was a hell of a lot harder this time. Even as we ran, I kept glancing around. It was a few seconds after she started, that I realized that Helene was talking.

"-was a dua-lar demon. The big one is strong and fast, though little more than an animal with very limited intelligence, but the small one that rode on its back is smart and devilishly clever and shares a telepathic link with the big one, controlling it. They make efficient assassins. It must have been sent by Vosch, my husband. He is the Krihl, or king as you would say, of the Ashai-machi, our people. "

"Wait a minute! This Vosch guy is your husband and he sent a killer after you?"

"Yes. You see, once, the Ashai-machi were ruthless warriors, mercenaries. All we lived for was the kill and the spoils of war. It wasn't until we realized that we were close to dying out - not because we lost in battle, but because we were so busy with fighting that there were almost no children being born - that we changed. Gorall took over as Krihl and led us into a new era. We are still great warriors, but now we use our strength and skills only to protect what is ours, and are focused more on building our own empire rather than destroying others'. The magics we had once used to travel to other worlds to wage war are now used to build new resources for our people.

"We have a vast network of businesses and trade-agreements on dozens of worlds. Our people are thriving. All the Krihls since then have continued to guide us along the new path, but Vosch longs for the days of old, for the thrill of victory, of bloodshed. He has even met with a group of demons from your own dimension, called the Circle of the Black Thorn, who in turn work for the most powerful demons in existence, known on your world as the Senior Partners. They are pure evil. If he should make a deal with them, or Jaku'el forbid, _join_ this group, all will be lost, and not just for my people. They would have control over all of our resources, making the Black Thorn far too powerful."

"And what does this have to do with you?" She had definitely gotten my attention.

"I've been secretly organizing a resistance - well, not so secretly anymore, I guess. As soon as I had everything set, I was going to assassinate Vosch."

"So, you two aren't exactly Ozzie and Harriett, but would you really kill your own husband?"

"It was an arranged marriage."

"Gotcha."

We ran in silence for a few minutes. We had crossed on bridge to another platform and the palace was looming on the other side. We crossed this section of the city, dodging in and out of alleyways, through milling crowds, losing sight of the little demon several times.

"There!" She said, pointing ahead.

I could just make out the Dua as it started across a bridge that connected this column to the palace. We sped up, racing toward the bridge.

Helene suddenly started to slow down, and turn away from the bridge the

Dua had taken.

"It seems the palace guards have spotted me," she said quietly.

_Continued…_


	7. Chapter 7

_"It seems the palace guards have spotted me," she said quietly._

**Xander's Truth: VI**

She continued away from the bridge, taking us closer to the edge of the column, now slowed to a brisk walk. I saw about a dozen dudes in uniform converging on us. We reached the edge and Helene pulled a small metallic cylinder out of the satchel slung over her shoulder. Already tense with the possibility of a fight, my heart sped up, thinking Helene was about to unleash some sort of weapon, but instead, she twisted the cylinder and dropped it over the side just as one of the guards reached us. The cylinder disappeared into the mist. OK, add confused to tense.

"Captain B'tal," she greeted.

"Your Highness, Krihl Vosch ordered us to bring you to him, if we should see you," the guard said. He looked real damn nervous, almost scared.

"Oh," she smiled, icily. "how nice. Good to know he misses me so much."

"I am sorry, your Highness, but he was most insistent."

"No need to be sorry, B'tal, I was planning on seeing him, anyway. Lead the way."

We followed B'tal, surrounded by the eleven guards, across the same bridge that the dua had gone over, towards the palace. I did my best to stay relaxed but alert, ready to spring into action while looking confident enough to seem sure I didn't think I needed to. I'm pretty sure it was a wasted effort, 'cause they seemed a lot more concerned with what Helene was doing, or might do. After a long walk across the bridge and making our way through a courtyard the size of two football fields, we finally entered the palace. And once again, I was in awe.

The grey rock exterior, while incredibly carved and all that, didn't begin to let on how amazing the interior was! Rugs, furniture, tapestries, wall carvings, statues...it all told of a strong, intelligent and proud people – warriors - with an incredible history. The colors used were severe (blacks, greys, reds and touches of dark blue), but were used in a way that demanded awe and respect.

Damn! I really just don't have the ability to describe it in any way that would do it justice, so I'll just get on with the story.

So, we go through all this unbelievable grandeur and into the throne room, which, like everything else, was cavernous. Two large ornate metal thrones, cushioned with blood red fabric were at the far end. Someone was sitting in the left-hand throne. Didn't take an Einstein to know that was Vosch looking all off-with-their-head-ish. B'lar stopped about fifteen feet away from the thrones, which I figured meant we should, too. I did, but Helene kept walking, right up to Vosch. The dua stuck its little head up over the back of his throne. Helene didn't falter or pause.

"Hello, Vosch, good to see you again. I must say, I enjoyed my vacation, even if it was cut short."

"I should kill you where you stand!" he growled.

"Maybe, but you can't, can you? No, that would show instability in the Throne. As if selling out our future to those vile creatures won't."

"The Black Thorn will return us to our former glory! We have become complacent, lazy bureaucrats! We can rule hundreds of worlds, and have an empire greater than any other!"

"And how many would have to die for this to happen? When would it be enough? We have a great kingdom here and now, yet you would risk the death of your people to attain more than is needed!"

"Better they die with honor than wither away as mere shadows of their former glory!"

I rolled my eyes. Sweet Criminy, this guy had a major Klingon complex! I could see why Helene wanted to off the bastard.

"Good to know you're so eager to face Death, Vosch, because I plan to deliver you to him!" She pulled the large knife she used to kill the lar half of the dua-lar demon out her satchel and slashed out at Vosch.

The guy was fast, I'll give him that. Only his shirt suffered serious injury as he rolled backward.

"Guards, seize her!" he yelled, coming to his feet as she advanced on him. Ten of the men rushed forward between Helene and Vosch, weapons drawn. "Kill them both! Take them somewhere and make it look like an accident!"

I knew Helene was good and might even be able to take on all twelve guards, but what about the rest of the guards? There had to be hundreds more in a place this friggin huge. There was no way we'd make it out.

Something suddenly occurred to me, and I prayed that my years of reading comic books and watching sci-fi and fantasy shows was about to pay off.

"Wait!" I yelled.

Everyone actually stopped, obviously surprised since I hadn't said a word since the guards approached us.

"I-I may have an idea. I mean, a way to work this out honorably."

Vosch seemed curious, Helene annoyed, and the guards bemused.

"And what is this honorable solution?" Vosch asked.

"I challenge you!" I said as confidently as I could.

Everybody just stared at me for a really uncomfortable amount of time, before Vosch gave an outraged bark of laughter. This might be a good time to mention that this guy…um, demon was about seven feet tall, very muscular and moved like a cat. A big cat. With sharp claws and everything.

"You! Challenge me! Pathetic human, I am Vosch Valnik, eight hundred and twentieth Krihl of the Ashai-machi, born from a line of countless warriors who drenched innumerable battlefields with the blood of their enemies!"

"Well, hello, Mr. Fancy Pants!" _Oh, Dear God, what am I doing?_ I asked myself. "OK, so you're all with the honor, then surely killing me in a dual would be better than having your guards toss us off the closest ledge."

Helene and the guards were watching, looking dumbfounded as he seemed to think it over, then nodded.

"I accept. I'll kill you quickly then deal with my wife."

"Great! Um. not about the you killing me part, but about you accepting. Now, if I could just talk to Helene for a few minutes, make sure I understand all the rules. Wouldn't wanna make any embarrassing faux-pas while we're fighting to the death, ya know."

Vosch didn't seem entirely comfortable the idea of me talking to Helene, but his ego got in the way of him actually being concerned, so he nodded his agreement. I motioned for Helene to come over to where I was standing, a short ways from everyone else. She walked over, looking none too pleased.

"What the hell are you thinking?" she demanded, quietly. "You won't last two seconds against him."

"Hey, give me some credit, here! It just so happens I grew up on the Hellmouth, and if there's one thing I learned about going up against a much bigger and stronger demon, it's let the chick with the super-strength deal with it."

"Me?"

"Yeah, that was kinda the idea. I mean, I was kinda goin' off of all the dungeons and dragons type stories I've read, and was really hoping that I get to choose a champion. Or did I just commit suicide by demon?"

"No, no, you're right! It's brilliant!"

"Really? Brilliant?" I grinned. And my folks said I would never get anywhere by reading all those fantasy books.

"There's one catch, though. You'll…" Helene trailed off, seem to think something through a few seconds, then went on. "Never mind, we'll deal with that later. OK, yes, a challenger may choose a warrior to represent him in the dual, but the only trouble is I can't fight him, not by our laws. It would still be considered treason, since I am the Rishn'a. The queen. But… she could." Helene pointed over my shoulder.

I turned to see a cloaked and hooded figure standing about ten feet from us. Eleven more were lined along the walls on either side of the entrance to the throne room. I hadn't heard a damn thing when they'd come in, and from the way the guards suddenly reacted, they hadn't either.

"Sister Helene," the cloaked woman pulled the hood back and nodded her head, respectively. She was beautiful; fiery red hair, emerald green eyes and, like all her people, pointed ears and face markings. She held up the cylinder that Helene had dropped into the mist. "We got your message and came as quickly as we could. It is good to see you back."

"Sister Milla, your timing is fortuitous," Helene returned the nod. "This is Alexander. He has just challenged Vosch and needs a warrior to represent him in the dual."

Milla grinned, understanding. "Not bad, for a human. I would be honored to be the one to represent you."

"OK, so now what do I do?" I asked.

"You announce your champion: Sister Milla of the Order of T'shal," Helene said.

I nodded. Nervous? Who, me? We're just dealing with the fate of an entire people, here. What's to be nervous about? I walked back toward Vosch and the guards, stopped a couple yards from them and cleared my throat. Not that I needed to get Vosch's attention. The guards…well, they didn't seem to wanna take their eyes off the cloaked figures that surrounded them. They were obviously scared.

"I, Alexander Lavelle Harris of Earth, challenge Krihl Vosch. And I have chosen Sister Milla of the Order of T'shal to represent me in this dual." I couldn't really tell from that distance, but I thought I saw Vosch gulp. If he was afraid, though, he didn't show it as he strode forward.

"Well played, human, but it won't save you. I won't be defeated, not even by one of those witches! Let the dual begin!" He pulled his shirt off as he went to his throne and pulled out a sword from a sheath hanging on its side.

Sister Milla unhooked her cloak and let it fall to the floor, exposing a tight brown leather outfit that was covered in bits of metal but miraculously made zilch in the way of sound as she moved forward to meet Vosch in the middle of the large circle we'd formed in front of the two thrones. Vosch twirled his sword as Milla slid two long blades from sheaths on her back. The design and markings were similar to Helen's knife. There was no bowing, no sign of acknowledgement, they just went at each other, blades clashing and bodies moving in an mesmerizing dance. Twisting, turning, striking, feinting. All happening so fast it was almost a blur.

Vosch was unbelievable… but Sister Milla was better. She struck the final blow, sending Vosch's head rolling across the floor as his body collapsed at her feet. Blood seeping from several cuts on her arms and torso, Milla raised her twin blades over her head, crossing them. Helene stepped forward. "Sister Milla has delivered a victory for Alexander Lavelle Harris of Earth, challenger of Krihl Vosch Valnik! By the laws of the Ashai-machi, he is our new Krihl!"

There I was feeling all relieved that we weren't gonna die when it hit me what Helene had just said. I looked around, frantically, hoping I'd misheard, but everyone was facing me and kneeling, including Helene. Oh crap! "Whoa! Waitaminute! Did you just say I'm the king now?"

"You challenged Vosch and won. The throne is your prize," Helene acknowledged. "I assumed you understood that. Are the outcomes different in the books you told me of?"

No, this is exactly how these things ended in those books, but I hadn't thought about that, being too busy with the whole wanting to be not dead. So, we were alive, but I was in eminent danger of hyperventilating myself into a coma. I barely managed to keep my cool till Helene and I were alone in one of the large rooms of the palace. My palace.

After much yelling on my part, then much more deliberating on both our parts, I realized that there was nothing I could do. I was Krihl until I died of old age or someone challenged and killed me. I was still totally wigging, thinking I'd never see home again, never see Willow or Buffy or Dawn or Giles. But Helene assured me that their laws allowed me to appoint a representative to fill in for me until I got my affairs in order and was ready to fully assume the throne. I left Helene in charge and returned through the portal to this dimension. A limo was arranged to drive me back to Sunnydale from Oxnard. I had the driver drop me off a few blocks from home and walked the rest of the way.

Before I'd left, Helene had consulted privately with one of the Sisters of her Order, a seer. Afterward, she told me I had three years. Three years to "finish what must be finished." she'd said. I'd wondered about the timeframe and her choice of words… until now.

_Continued…_


	8. Chapter 8

_Afterward, she told me I had three years. Three years to "finish what must be finished." she'd said. I'd wondered about the timeframe and her choice of words… until now._

**Xander's Truth: VII**

I stood there in front of them, waiting for reactions. Buffy, Willow and Dawn all seemed dumbfounded. Giles seemed to want to clean his glasses, but he wasn't wearing any. Robin seemed both confused and amazed. Faith, well…

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone, yo! You're tellin' me that you're some sort of _king_ now? That you're the ruler of this whole other world?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Wow, Xand, I'm impressed. In spite of the fact that you pretty much just stumbled into it and were lucky you weren't sliced and diced. You hit the lottery, man." Faith looked as if she wasn't sure if she should be happy for me or pissed that it wasn't her.

"That's _so_ cool!" Andrew said, looking at me in awe. "Plucked from an ordinary life, handed a des-"

"Shut up, Andrew," Dawn said, through gritted teeth. She wouldn't look at me; I'd just told her that I was leaving them. Leaving _her._ After she'd already lost both parents and, even though she was back, Buffy for a while. Now she was losing me.

Buffy still didn't seem to know how to react, but Willow was getting that furrowed brow hurt look of hers.

"Good Lord," Giles finally said.

"Look, guys, I couldn't tell you right away, Helene made that very clear. She said that the truth would be spoken when the time came and not before. That certain events had to play out as they were meant to in order for me to assume my place as Krihl. And, after a while, I just sort of put it out of my mind. I didn't want to face it, anyway. I didn't want to think about leaving you guys. Then, with everything that happened, first with the Initiative, then Glory and… Joyce and Buffy and Willow, The First. It was relatively easy to forget with all that happening."

"Are you ever coming back?" Willow asked, crying now.

I felt a stab of pain in my heart at the sight of those tears. She was by best friend. We'd known each other since kindergarten and now I was saying goodbye for Lord only knew how long! I scrambled for something to say, to ease the pain, the hurt I was causing. "I'm sure, eventually… but it might be a few years. There are ceremonies, rituals and even a shindig or two to go through. Then, I'll be required to meet with the various representatives of the worlds Peridia deals with and prove to them that I'm willing and capable of continuing the peaceful relationships that have been established. Then there's…" I trailed off, seeing that no one really cared about the minutia of my new position. "I promise I will make time to come and visit as often as possible. I mean, it's not like we were planning on living together for the rest of our lives, right? Dawn's going to be going to college. Buffy and Giles have a whole mess of new Padawans to gather from around the world, so they can teach them to use the Force. And I'm sure they'll need you there to help with all the magic stuff, Will. But me, around a bunch of super powered teenage girls? I don't think I could handle-"

"Don't," Buffy said, cutting me off. She looked to be on the verge of tears, herself. "You're going to do what you have to do; believe me, I understand that. But don't try to downplay how much we need you, because it's a lie and you know it. We all know it. Hell, even _Faith_ knows it."

Faith seemed about to retort but stopped herself. Maybe her time in prison had taught her at least a little tact.

"OK, fair enough," I nodded. "It kills me, having to leave you guys. As stupid and corny as it sounds, I actually _was _thinking we'd live together for the rest of our lives, in the same town, if not the same house. That we'd be there for each other until the end, and I don't mean by the hand some monster, but old age. That we'd go peacefully, knowing we'd seen the best and worst of this world and that we'd helped to make it better, safer, for those who come after us, so they wouldn't have to go through some of the worst, like we did. I'm terrified of what's waiting for me in that other world. Terrified that I'll do the wrong thing and get people killed, including myself. My God, how am _I _supposed to be ruler of a whole world and its people?!"

_Continued…_


	9. Chapter 9

The limousine was pulling up and it was time to say our farewells (no one said goodbye). There was no big speech about how great I'd do as Krihl of Peridia, but I saw the look of pride and confidence in Giles' eyes, as we hugged each other. There was no joking about me being heir to the throne of Gondor, but Andrew and I shared a sad smile. The only things that were said aloud were wistful tidings of "good luck" "be brave" "come back soon" and "we'll miss you"; those things you say to someone you know you may never see again but refuse to admit it.

I ignored the large, extremely impatient, female driver (who I was sure was a Sister from the Order of T'Shal) as I stood in front of Buffy for a few moments, not saying anything, searching for just the right words.

"Well…" I finally managed. Brilliant! Inspired! Shakespeare couldn't have done better!

"You know that if you don't visit from time to time, I'm going to go to Presidio and kick your ass, right?" she responded.

I smiled my first genuine smile since being woken up by the phone. "Yeah, I know."

With that, I got into the car and was driven away into some destiny I never could have imagined for myself. When you're friends with the Slayer and the most powerful witch in the world, delusions of grandeur don't really find their way into your mind. And, even though it was me going to help steer the course of this whole other world, I knew that it was the lessons I learned from my friends that would serve me best in my own journey.

THE END?


End file.
